Music box



N. T. BOYLE March 21, 1950 MUSIC BOX Filed Aug. 16, 1946 INVENTOR RNEY5 1 l rznan T Bg/Ze Patented Mar. 21, 1950 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE MUSIC 30X Norma'n'T'." Boyle: Brooklyn, N. Y. Application AuguS'tlG, 1946, Serial No. 691,075 2 Clain"isS (Cl. 84-102) This invention 'relates to improvements inmusic boxes.

Theprincipa'l'objectof this invention is the provision of a music box incorporating a Xylophone construction. And 'a furth'er object of the invention is the provision of a music box of this type in whicha pluralityof tunes maybe played by the simple expedient of shiftingsomeof the" parts thereof i'elative to :the other parts.

Another object of this invention is the provisionof axylophone which may be aetuated by the turning ofa crank handle and 'which automatically plays apredetermined tune and m'ore particularly a selected tune chosen from a plurality of predetermined tunes.

A preferred embodiment of this invention is shown in the accompanying drawing in which Fig. 1 is a vertical section through a music box incorporating the features of the present invention, said section being taken on the line l-l of Fig. 2;

Fig. 2 is a section taken at right angles to the section shown in Fig. l, and being indicated by the line 2-'2 in Fig. 1; and

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of said music box showing a supporting strap attached thereto.

The music box forming the subject matter of this application includes a casing I in which the mechanism hereinafter described is used, and a supporting strap I affixed at its ends to said casing whereby the music box may be suspended from around the back of the neck while played. A shaft [3 extends through the casing l0 and mounted on said shaft and keyed thereto is a plurality of drums I5. is a gear wheel I! which meshes with a smaller gear wheel 18, which latter gear wheel is in turn connected to a larger gear wheel I9. A crank handle is mounted on the outside of the casing l0 and is connected through. a hole therein to a smaller gear wheel 22. This latter gear wheel 22 engages the larger gear wheel l9 above mentioned and when, therefore, the crank handle 20 is worked in the usual manner, the several gear wheels above described, rotate at differing rates of speed, and since the last of the gear wheels H is keyed to shaft l3, said shaft is also caused to rotate. By the same token, the drums l5 which are fixedly mounted on the shaft I3, engage in rotary movement when the crank handle is turned.

It will be noted in Figs. 1 and 2 that on the peripheral surface of each of these drums I5 is a plurality of small projections 30. Closer examination of Fig. 1 will reveal that these projections Also keyed in said shaft said shifting bar 32 b y means of are arranged along four circumferential lines. That is each drum is provided with four series ofprojections-til, each of said series lying on a circumferential line, all of said series being spacedfrom andparallel to eachother.

whichis parallel in respect to the shaft i3 above mentionedfis a shifting or'slidi'ngbar 32'. This bar-extends outwardly. from the casingiat bothends thereof "as shown in Fig. 2. Itwill be noted that a plurality of hammers 35"are' mounted on spring members aiiixed to each 35 is a small lug 31. Fig. 2 will show that the lugs 31 are positioned to encounter the projections when the drums ii": are caused to rotate. As said projections strike said lugs, the hammers are raised from their normal positions of rest, and as these projections disengage said lugs, the hammers are enabled to return to their said normal positions of rest. Since these hammers are mounted on spring members, the return movement last above referred to is sharp and pronounced.

A Xylophone is mounted on the inside of the casing It as shown in Figs. 1 and 2. It will be noted that the hammers 35 are positioned to strike the vibrating members 4| of the Xylophone. Thus it is that when the crank handle 20 is operated and the drums I5 caused to rotate, a staccato movement of the hammers 35 is effected through the tripping engagement of the projections 39 with the lugs 31. The timing of said movement of the hammers is determined by the spacing of the projections 30.

It will be recalled that each drum I5 is provided with four circumferential series of projections 30. It will further be recalled that the hammer supports 33 are mounted on a shifting bar 32. The lugs 31 on said hammer supports are Wide enough for engagement with a single series of projections til, but they are not sufliciently Wide to engage two series of projections at the same time. Hence when the shifting bar 32 is moved its longitudinal axis in either direction, thereby carrying with it the several hammer supports 36, it is possible to set the lugs 3'! for engagement with a selected series of projections 3i], that is with any one of the four series above referred to.

These projections 30 perform the same function as the projections in an ordinary Swiss mu- 36. It will also be noted that of said spring members Reference to sic box. Each series of projections on each of the drums [5 taken in conjunction with the corresponding series on each of the other drums, provides for the playing of a particular tune. To change the tune one simply shifts the shifting bar 32 one or more notches as designated by the character reference 50 in Fig. 1. There are four notches on the shifting bar, each corresponding to a series of projections 30 on the drums l5. At the bottom an opening 5| is provided through which the musical sounds are adapted to pass.

It will be understood that the foregoing is a description or a preferred embodiment of the invention and that said embodiment may be changed in many ways within the spirit of the invention.

I claim:

1. In a music box including a Xylophone, a shifting bar, said bar mounted longitudinally 01 the Xylophone, a plurality of spring members afiixed to said bar, a plurality of hammers mounted at the free ends of said spring members to selectively engage said Xylophone, a lug on each of said spring members, a pluralit of drums, a plurality of tripping members circumferentially disposed on each of said drums to selectively engage and trip the lugs causing the hammers to strike the Xylophone, said tripping members being arranged in a series of concentric groups on each drum, means to cause simultaneous rotary movement of said drums to bring a group of tripping members into engagement with said lugs and means for operating said shifting bar to cause engagement of said lugs with any other group of tripping members.

2. In a music box including a Xylophone, a slidably operable shifting bar, said bar mounted longitudinally of the Xylophone, a plurality of spring members having one end afiixed to said bar, a plurality of hammers mounted on the opposite ends of said spring members to engage said Xylophone, a lug on each of said spring members positioned intermediate their ends, a plurality of drums, a plurality of tripping members circumferentially disposed on each of said drums to selectively engage and trip the lugs, thereby actuating the hammers, said tripping members being arranged in a series of concentric groups on each drum, means to cause simultaneous rotary movement of said drums to bring a group of tripping members into engagement with said lugs and slidable movement of said shifting bar causing engagement of said lugs with any other selected group of tripping members.

NORMAN T. BOYLE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 449,439 Freiner Mar. 31, 1891 1,572,167 Smith Feb. 9, 1926 2250,82? Fathauser Jul 29, 1941 

